(Erin) "Dainty Girl"

Good morning! I can't believe that January is almost at an end...and good riddance!! It's one of the coldest months for us (February is just as bad usually), and by getting it out of the way means we're that much closer to a much anticipated (albeit short) summer!

I have a layout to share with you today that I created with a couple of places in mind. First of all, it's based on Sketch #192 from Creative Scrappers. I made it my own, as I usually do- using a couple landscape photos with one portrait, but being as they are small, they ended up fitting into the sketch pretty well. I also created this with the Letter F challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous, by using Flowers, Fussy Cutting, Feminine, and Fiskars scissors (for my cutting). I really enjoyed coordinating all of the pinks with Aspen's little outfit. She looks so dainty and beautiful, I am just in awe of her :). Thank-you for coming on over and having a look. Have an enjoyable day!

(Kelly) "My Baby" CSI Case file #4

*This is our second post for today..please scroll down to read a fun post full of Erin's observations*


Erin recently introduced me to a fun new challenge blog, CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. This place is unlike any other!!! Very unique, fun challenges, with a given color scheme, and various options for embellishments and journalling. I won't go too far in depth here, because if you frequent our blog, you have probably read some of Erin's posts about this site and seen what she has created....but definitely head over there and check it out- I guarantee you will find super fun, unique challenges, and oodles of inspiration from their incredible DT and Guest DT!! This is my first time playing along, the color scheme caught my eye immediately, I LOVE IT!  Here it is:

You need to choose two options from the "Evidence" list, I chose more...I used a frame, a wet medium (Shimmerz paint and Glossy Accents), stripes, and tulle.
From the "Testimony" list, you choose one option, I choose to combine a few, Reflections, journal in a frame (my title is part of my journaling, and is inside the frame), and the word "change" as a jump off. My journaling reads: "You're 19 months old, already- changing so fast...but you still are, and always will be...My Baby..Today, tommorow, and forever.

What I've Learned...

...or should I say what I have learnt since participating in International blogs...
It's Sunday morning today, we haven't had a blog post in a couple days so I thought it would be the perfect time to share with you a few of the differences I have discovered between Americans and Australians/the rest of the world-- I say Australia since the majority of the blogs I participate in are Australian-based...
At first, I thought I was just seeing spelling errors...until I started seeing them everywhere...and then realised (realized) that I was very simple-minded in thinking that our way of talking/writing was the ONLY or RIGHT way...and since I'm an absolute spelling NUT (errors drive me CRAZY!!), I felt compelled to organise (organize) a short list of these differences and have spent the last fortnight (two weeks) doing so...
First of all, I must say that there is DEFINITELY something in the water over there...I swear, each and every one of those other-side-of-the-world Ladies are UBER-talented!! They should bottle that up and sell it in the online scrappy stores so we can ALL have some!! Or maybe it's just a scrappy talent gene that's embedded in them? I don't know, but whatever it is...I want some.
While we have colors, they have colours.
If you participate in their challenges, you might find yourself honoured (honored) to be one of their esteemed favourites (favorites)~ who doesn't love THAT?! I love being a favourite!! :)
While we plop ourselves and our kids down at the table for LUNCH........they give their children tea ~
And as I'm suffering with -30 F weather with plenty of snow and biting wind...they're enjoying a steaming hot summertime...swimming and sunbathing and laughing at me...
But most importantly, while I dream of ONE DAY maybe possibly taking a vacation with my family to SOMEWHERE...they seem to constantly be on holiday doing all of these fun and fabulous things....
Ah, the joys of discovering another part of the world...all the while being reminded of how boring a life I lead, LOL! But seriously, all joking aside, I'm so happy to have discovered so many of these great blogs and the wonderful people who participate in them. I've really learned so much from you (and obviously ABOUT you!!)~ and truthfully, you've opened up a whole different scrappy world to me, and I THANK YOU for that!
I hope you've enjoyed this read and that your Sunday (or Monday-- since you are about 17 hours ahead of me right now) is treating you well. We'll be seeing you soon!

(Kelly) "You, Me, and the Sunshine"

Good morning everyone, and happy Friday!!! I'm excited today, because Erin, Josh, and the kids are coming down for their monthly shopping, and hopefully a quick visit! I hope you all have fun weekend plans...I have to work the next 4 days, so I'm enjoying my Friday as much as I can! I have another layout to share, made with the Artful Delight January Scrapbook Kit, this is my 5th project with this kit!! Amazing what is packed into those things :) These photos are from July 4th, 2011, a wonderful day spent together 4-wheeling, and enjoying the hot summer day...Thanks for taking a look!! Now head over to the Artful Delight Blog and check it out. The February kit has already been revealed, and it's fantastic!! I believe there are still January kits for sale, check out the store, here.

This layout is pretty clean and simple, but I love these photos and didn't want to distract too much. Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend!!

(Erin) "Growing Up"

Good morning all you fellow scrappers :)! I have a layout to share with you today that I completed using the very first sketch over at the brand new challenge blog Scrap Africa!! It is the first scrapbooking challenge blog to hit the African continent (how cool is that??) but is open to international participants! The very talented Nadia Cannizzo is guest designer there as well as- for you Creating Keepsakes Ladies- Kim Watson!! Be sure to check out their amazing work, as well as the Design Team samples, and play along! You have until February 9th :). I also created this layout with the Stitching challenge over at C'est Magnifique in mind. I've always loved stitching, especially with my machine, and it's something I've started really using again after a bit of a dry spell. I like it for many reasons, but mainly because it adds that something "extra"...and because I have multiple layers on the edges of my pages (repetetive I know, but a layout just doesn't seem complete without lots of outer layers!), it helps hold everything together! ;)

This photo of my little Gunner was taken on New Year's Day and I just look at it and see a teenager! Yikes! Seriously, when did he start looking so old?? :( This sketch was perfect for a double photo- something I can't seem to stop doing, either- using two of the same photo just seems to emphasize its importance. And it also left a lot to the imagination- I love sketches like that! So this is what I came up with:

(Kelly) "Remembering..."

Good afternoon...I wanted to share a fun layout I just finished, for the sketch challenge over at My Creative Sketches. I really had a lot of fun making this one, starting with the super fun, adorable photo of Lilah, when she was 9 months old..I really just "let go" making this one, grabbing whatever and putting it down on the page, and I love how it turned out!! I used more of the Pink Paislee Mistables paper for the background, man I love that stuff, such a unique look it gives! I realized, after I took the picture of my layout and put it on the computer..that I forgot to finish the journaling..oops!!! I had to go back to look for the date for the photo, and meant to come back to it, and I didn't! Oh, well....Thanks for looking!! Have a great afternoon, everyone!

A Couple Wins!

Kelly and I both had a couple of wins over the past few days...Kelly was in the Top 5 @ Bird is the Word for the "Wonder" challenge, and I was tied for the win over @ Challenge Me Happy for Challenge #14!!
This is just one thing to love about the online scrappy world...scrapbooking is something I would do anyway, challenges and prizes or not-- but it always is a nice bonus to be recognized for the work you do and love.
Thanks to both sites for that recognition, we appreciate it so much :)!

(Kelly) "I Can't Wait!" OUAS entry

**This is our 2nd post for the day, please scroll down and check out the new FD sketch and our inspiration!**

Awhile back, Erin made a really great observation...that Prima and Kaisercraft should totally get together. I think this layout proves this is so true! This layout is equal parts of two different lines, Prima's Alla Prima collection, and Kaisercraft's Hummingbird. They coordinate so well! The colors and patterns of these two lines, to me, are a match made in heaven!! Anyways...I made this lovely layout for the current challenge over at Once Upon A...Sketch. The journaling criteria is Hello 2012 or Goodbye 2011? I chose to journal about what I am looking forward to in 2012. One of the biggest things, of course, that I am looking forward to, is meeting my baby, in April!! I am 27 weeks in these photos, taken a few days ago. (See my journaling below.) The sketch was so inspiring and beautiful, there's something about a really attractive sketch that makes me so happy!!! (also see the sketch below.) Here's my layout, and some closeups, too!

Journaling reads: "What am I looking forward to the most in 2012? that's easy- I can't hardly wait to meet my new baby girl in April! What a wonderful year this will be!"

Sketch Along Tuesdays 1.24.12

Good morning! It's another Tuesday, so we have a new Frosted Designs sketch to share, and some inspiration, of course! The lovely Ashley Horton designed this sketch, and it was a lot of fun to work with it! Head over to the FD blog and check out what the rest of the team made, and play along for a chance to win a wonderful prize!

Here is Kelly's take on the sketch:

And here is Erin's take:

Thanks for stopping by, we really hope you play along!

(Erin) "Sweet Heart" STG January Challenge

So apparently Kelly & I must have some sort of scrappy connection because we both did our layouts for the current challenge over @ Scrap the Girls on Saturday night- but neither of us knew that the other was doing so. It wasn't until Kelly posted yesterday that we made the discovery...so I waited until today to post my page. The challenge is to use a monochromatic color scheme. I've done these before and enjoy them, but I really wanted to do a color I hadn't done before. And though it was a bit daunting (and difficult to photograph), I went with white. Because it was white, I wanted to keep it fairly simple. I used another photo from the series I took of Aspen the other day as I got a ton of super cute ones :). I used a bit of gesso in the background to add some texture, but is difficult to see here. And all the white space (literally!) makes me somewhat uncomfortable as I'm used to "filling" my pages... Ah, well...thanks for having a look. Enjoy your day :).

(Kelly) "Happy"

Good day! I hope everyone's been enjoying their weekend, I have had a nice relaxing weekend off of work. I was even able to make some time to scrap last night! I decided to take on this month's challenge over at Scrap The Girls...this will be my first time participating there, although I've been checking them out for awhile now! The current challenge is to use a monochromatic color scheme. I decided on these light blues..I really love this page, it was hard to photograph due to the cloudy dark day we are having here, but you get the idea :) I spent some time yesterday sorting my scraps, and put a few of them to use here! I had half a sheet of this light blue floral print to fussy cut, from Pink Paislee's Nantucket collection, and it fit perfectly, I think! Thanks for taking a look!

(Erin) "Perfect" Prima BAP & CSI #3

Good morning! It's another -30 F morning here in northeastern Minnesota! Yuck, but that's January for you! I saw a lynx on the way to town this morning (a type of wild cat that lives out here in the woods)...I figured it was the only creature around other than myself crazy enough to be out and about!

But I've got a page to share with you that I just love. I used the colors/requirements from over at CSI for challenge #3 to complete my January Prima Build-a-Page. I created the background of my paper with a Prima mask and some Tattered Angels glimmer mist. Really loved the way it turned out...the colors just really came together on this one. The palette I had to work with was just beautiful-- the only one that isn't very visible is the lavendar, which is actually on one of the two tags I used for my hidden journaling (see close up below). For the evidence details, I chose to include tags (hidden journaling), gold metallic elements (flowers & leaves), & circular elements.
I actually took these beyond adorable photos of Aspen yesterday and obviously couldn't wait to scrap them! I don't think she could possibly get any CUTER.
Thanks so much for stopping and having a look. Hope you all have an excellent weekend :).

(Kelly) "Remember this..."

**This is my second post today!! I couldn't resist posting one more before the weekend. Please take time to scroll down and check out my Artful Delight project below!**

So, I couldn't resist, I had to post this layout I finished last night. I made this for two challenges, one is the Get Picky sketch challenge, This sketch was great!! This will be my second time playing along over at Get Picky. The other challenge, is for the newest Bird is the Word challenge, to use the word "Remember" in your title or journaling. I came across these photos, taken back in October during a visit to Grand Marais to see Erin. The two of us took Lilah and Gunner to a favorite spot on Cascade River to let the kids play, and to take some photos, of course. I used hidden journaling on this one, just a sweet message to my little girl...hidden behind the larger photo.

Here's the Get Picky sketch:

Supplies: Patterned paper is Onirie...Flowers, leaves, vines, and lace are Prima..Chipboard is Dusty Attic..Stickers are 7 Dots Studio and American Crafts.

Thanks for looking!!

(Kelly) "Sing it Loud" Artful Delight project!

Happy Friday!!!!!!!! I have a fun layout to share, that I made using the January Scrapbook kit from Artful Delight!! I love the cute felt flowers, the red/white twine, and the little touches of MME garland I added. And of course, this adorable photo of Lilah singing her little heart out!!! So, if you love this kit, too, head over to the Artful Delight store to purchase it, you will not be disappointed!!! Also, there is still time to play along with this month's sketch challenge, for a chance to win February's kit. You have until the 23rd to enter!! I hope everyone has a great day, thanks for stopping by!!

Everything on this layout is from the January kit, except for the die cut behind the title, that is from the Dec. kit. I also used some misc. red thread from my stash.

(Erin) CSI "Most Wanted" List!! :)

Excited to see that my "16 Mos." layout made the top 5 Most Wanted list over at CSI for their very first challenge!! I'm in a group of some pretty awesome layouts, be sure to check them out!!

(Kelly) OUAS TOP 5!!!! And a layout to share :)

*This is our second post today, please scroll down to read about the Frosted Designs DT Call!*

I was so excited to see that I was in the top 5 over at Once Upon A...Sketch!!!! This, to me, is such an accomplishment and an honor!!! You can see my layout, and the other ones featured, here.

  I also have a layout to share, using Sketch #191 from Creative Scrappers, and is also for the A to Z challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous. The letter right now, to use, is "F" so I used flowers, family, and flourishes!! Thanks for checking it out!

Frosted Designs is having a Design Team Call!!!!!

Good Morning!!! As many of you know, Erin and I both joined the Frosted Designs team last summer. It was our very first DT, and it has been such a blast doing this together. Unfortunately, life gets busy, and the two of us have decided not to sign on for another term. We both are definately gonna miss the fantastic, talented, sweet ladies on the team!!! We will be finishing up our term at the end of February.
Here's the good news for you...Frosted Designs is looking for new members!!!! Here are some of the details, head over to Frosted Designs to learn how to apply!!! Good luck!!

We are looking for papercrafters of all kinds! If you can make scrapbook layouts, cards, altered art items, home decor items or like mixed media.... we want you!! One of the best things about Frosted Designs (in my opinion) is that we celebrate all kinds of crafters! We are not just a scrapbooking blog or a card blog. We want to let everyone share their skills and with 3 challenges going on all the time, there is something for everyone! We would like to fill some positions on all three of our teams. Let me tell you more about each one....

Fabulous Friday Teams: We have two teams of ladies that make up our Fabulous Friday teams. The focus of this team is to use up supplies you already have laying around the house that may have been neglected and forgotten about. For this team, you should be willing to do any of the following: scrapbook layouts, cards, altered art, home decor and mixed media items!

Sketch Along Tuesday Layout Team: This team makes scrapbook layouts that are inspired by the sketches we give them.

Sketch Along Tuesday Card Team: This team makes cards that are inspired by the sketches we give them.

No matter which team you prefer, the requirments for all of our designers remain the same....

1. Be willing to commit to a six month term. Your term would start the beginning of March and go until the end of August.

2. Create a project every other week for your assigned team.

3. Share a step by step tutorial 2 times during your 6 month term. (This can be with photos or video)

4. You will be required to comment on some of the projects that are entered into our challenge each week.

5. Keep an active blog that is updated frequently.

6. Post our challenge and your project on your blog on reveal day and link back to the Frosted Designs blog.

(Erin) "Remember..."

Hi there!! We've got MORE cold weather, reminding me that it IS in fact January in Northern Minnesota...but that aside, I've completed a sweet layout featuring my littl girl Aspen :). The January sketch challenge over @ C'est Magnifique features one of the lovely Nadia's sketches, so I just had to play along...I was also inspired by Bird is the Word's current word challenge "Remember", asking that we use the word in either our title or journaling. I felt compelled to tell my daughter a few simple- but important- things...That she is beautiful, That she is so loved, and (since DH & I are pretty sure we're done having any more children) That she is my one & only baby girl :)...

Supplies Used: Papers- KaiserCraft "Primrose", Flowers- Prima Marketing, KaiserCraft, Other, Letters- My Little Shoebox tiny type & American Crafts Thickers (for the dots), Rhinestones- MME "Kraft Funday", Other- pearls, book pages, doily, misc trims, machine stitching, gesso, foam adhesive.

(Kelly) "My Promise"

I am finally posting this layout, I made over a week ago!! The reason for the delay is, I just really don't love this one. I do love the photo and the journaling, though, although the photo is super grainy because it is a cell phone photo!! It was taken shortly after Jeremy and I met, which was only a couple of years ago, but I call it "back when we were young.." I can't quite put my finger on what I don't like about this one, but hey, can't love them all, right? I used Sketch #189 from Creative Scrappers, and was inspired by the "Promise" challenge at Bird Is The Word. Thanks for looking!

(Erin) "His Obsession" CSI Challenge #2

Good morning! I am excited to share with you a fun layout I created for the CSI (Color, Stories, Inspiration) Challenge #2! As I mentioned before, they are a new challenge site which incorporates great color schemes with journaling prompts and other requirements to get you started on some really great projects!

We were asked to use these five colors shown in the case file pictured here and choose one prompt from the list of journaling details and two elements from the evidence details. For my page I chose to include flowers and a fence for my evidence details, and for the journaling I chose to write in a stream-of-consciousness, or free-writing, way. My journaling reads as follows regarding my younger son Gunner's obsession with cans!:

"Oh my little Gunners~ your obsession with cans is so clear in these photos! What a strange thing for a child to love so much! But you do...you literally shake with excitement when you see a case of pop! You love to stack them, sort them, put them in boots- and the toaster oven- but most of all you love to throw them! So infuriating- but you love them so!~"

Thanks for stopping by- hope you can also get the chance to play along this week with CSI!

Supplies Used: Papers- Webster's Pages "Garden Gala" & Echo Park "Victoria Gardens", Flowers- Prima Marketing & KaiserCraft, Letters- My Little Shoebox tiny type & American Crafts Thickers, Tag- October Afternoon, Mist- Mister Huey's White, Other- twine, book pages, cardboard, paint.

Once Upon A...Sketch January 15th Challenge!!

The January 15th Sketch Challenge over at Once Upon A...Sketch is up!! This is my second (and final) layout as Guest Designer there this month and it has been such an honor to have been given the chance to design with some incredibly talented ladies!!

Thank-you SO MUCH, Nadia, for allowing me this opportunity. I loved it!

Here are the details on the challenge:

January 15th Challenge
Journalling Criteria:
HELLO 2012 or GOODBYE 2011?
For this challenge, the journalling theme is new beginnings, upcoming adventures but also saying goodbye to yet another year.. Are you glad 2011 is over? Are you looking forward to starting fresh in 2012? What are your goals or resolutions for the year ahead? What are you most looking forward to? Or maybe you can journal about your thoughts for the new year.
Things that you can journal about: a new job, house, baby or new scrapping adventures or Design Teams. Are you taking time off work? Are you planning a holiday somewhere? Maybe your children are starting school or you are getting a new pet. Or you could tell us why you are glad 2011 is over or why you will miss it. Anything goes really!
Remember that you are allowed to also create a card or altered project based on this sketch and instead of the journalling criteria you need to use a quote.
**You must combine our journalling criteria/theme with this sketch. **

And here is my take:

SPONSORS

Imaginarium designs, is a new chipboard company founded in 2010. It is the combined collaboration of a Mother and Son team who both work in the paper craft industry.

Please visit the blog for inspiration and to see what the design team has been up to http://www.imaginariumdesigns.blogspot.com/ and you can purchase this amazing chipboard at Seriously Scrapbooking (they ship anywhere in the world at actual postage cost)

Feature Art

Feature Art is an art paper designing company located in South Australia.

CREATING THE UNIQUE DESIGN is our company mission. We offer unique patterned paper that help to develop the versatile craft projects for the craft industry. All our paper product is designed and printed in Australia. We will continue to provide our customers with excellent products and best service always.

Website: http://www.featureart.net.au/store/index.php

In the virtual halls of Miss Art’s Papercrafting School your education will be interactive, innovative, friendly and insipirational. Our teachers are like the best ones you had growing up - available and easy to relate to. Whether it is through an online chat or answering an email, our teacher/student relationships are about learning through interaction. We hope you’ll enjoy your experience at Miss Art’s so much that you’ll never want to leave. After all, going back to school has never been more fun!

Prizes

The winner of this challenge, as voted by the Design Team, will win 60 days access at the Extra Credit level at $30 value at Miss Arts's Papercrafting School which includes a class by Lisa Valentine called Sweet treats. Lisa will teach you how to leave an impression in the hearts of your loved ones as you whip up a multi-dimensional layout and card from scratch. In 10 easy to follow videos, Lisa instructs students in the use of stencils with molding paste, fussy cutting layers, stamping transparencies to make butterfly embellishments, crafting leaves and adding custom pearls to layouts. Lasting Impressions begins baking up delectable dimension on 1/1/12.

Here is a sneak of the class..

We have 2 prizes for 2 RANDOMLY chosen people

A chipboard pack from Imaginarium Designs.

2 paper collection from FeatureArt.

Things to consider when playing along...

**This is an international blog, so anyone can enter

**You are allowed to create a card, layout or off-the-page item based on the provided sketch and additional journalling criteria. If you are creating a card or altered item you only need to include a quote.

**You are also allowed to flip or rotate the sketch or alter it to suit your needs, but please make sure its still recognisable.

**Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery and link it on the right hand side of this blog using the Link tool. Please provide a direct link to your post, not your entire blog.If the link tool is down, please leave a comment on the comments section and link your layout there.

** The deadline for this challenge is midnight January 31st, Australian Eastern Standard Time . The Design Team will vote and the winners and the Top 5 project will be announced soon after the challenge has finished.

**You may enter as many times as you like and combine this with other challenges.

**Also, please consider turning off word verification for comments on your blog.

Can't wait to see what you create!!